Chapter 406: Need to be prepared

"Go, but take care of yourself."

Elena’s eyebrows rose at her father’s unexpected permission, and she stared at him as though she hadn’t quite heard him correctly.

"Are you sure?"

Seraph grumbled in response. "Go before I change my mind." Shaking his head, he added, "Just make sure you return by tomorrow. And when your mother starts scolding you, don’t you dare talk back to her."

Elena’s face immediately lit up with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. She threw her arms around her father and hugged him tightly.

"I promise! I’ll come back as soon as I can."

With that, she hurried out of the house, practically sprinting through the door with an irrepressible smile on her face.

Finally, she was going to see him.

...

"You arrived early."

Ethan spoke without turning around, his gaze fixed downstairs where maids were moving around, arranging things.

"I had nothing else to do, so I thought I might as well help you get things ready," Arthur replied as he approached the window.

Ethan was looking down at the garden, where a long table had been arranged alongside everything they would need for the barbecue. The preparations were nearly complete, and from their vantage point, the two men could survey the entire arrangement below.

Neither spoke for a while.

Ethan didn’t bother responding to the obvious question hidden behind Arthur’s words. Whether he had managed to fulfill the role entrusted to him was something neither man needed to say aloud. The answer was already apparent to them both.

Though unlike the beautiful scenery of the garden, their expressions carried a similar emptiness, as though their thoughts had wandered somewhere neither was willing to acknowledge.

The silence lingered for another minute before Ethan finally broke it.

"It won’t happen again."

"True."

Arthur nodded in agreement, a rather rare occurrence between the two men.

Yet despite their confidence and determination not to repeat the mistakes of the past, something darker lingered beneath their composed expressions.

Fear.

The fear of being rejected, of being abandoned by the very man they wanted to serve till their last breaths.

...

"Seriously, just how long were you planning to make me wait?"

Veronica grumbled the moment she saw Amanda rushing out of the apartment building.

"Sorrrrry! I’m so, so sorry!"

Amanda continued apologizing as she hurried toward the car. "I fell asleep right after you called me the first time! Then I had to take a shower and get changed."

She felt genuinely guilty about keeping Veronica waiting, especially since she had been the one to suggest that they travel to the venue together in the first place.

"Seriously..."

Veronica shook her head in exasperation before gesturing toward the car.

"Come on, get inside."

She opened the driver’s door and settled behind the wheel while Amanda hurried around to the passenger side and climbed in.

As Amanda settled into her seat, she heard Veronica ask, "Where is he? Is he going to arrive late?"

Veronica glanced toward the apartment building, a faint trace of longing appearing in her eyes. She hadn’t visited him in quite some time, and she hadn’t even had the chance to see his new house since he bought it.

It went without saying that she had missed him.

"Yeah. He said he needs some time to make sure everyone he wants there actually arrives," Amanda replied as she took out a small mirror and began touching up her makeup.

Veronica glanced at her, genuine curiosity evident in her expression.

"Why are you suddenly getting so dolled up? Kyle has already seen you."

Amanda’s choice of clothing was rather elegant as well, making her appearance stand out even more than usual.

"I’m going to be standing right next to the man at the center of everything. Obviously, I have to look good."

Veronica suddenly flinched at those words and lowered her gaze.

She was wearing her usual formal attire, a black jacket over her suit, while her hair had been hastily gathered into a rather messy bun. Compared to Amanda’s carefully chosen outfit and polished appearance, she looked more like someone who had just returned from a raid and was preparing to take a shower before going to bed.

The contrast was painfully obvious.

"Don’t worry," Amanda said, seemingly sensing her friend’s sudden discomfort. "I’ve already asked Ethan to prepare a dress for you. We’ll have plenty of time, so there’s no need to worry."

Veronica’s eyebrows rose.

"Did you actually expect me to show up here dressed like this?"

Amanda grinned mischievously.

"Well..."

...

"Haah..."

Kyle let out a long sigh as he splashed water over his face, hoping to clear his head before the day ahead.

He had spent quite some time speaking with the council, a discussion that had also involved Athena and Apollo. Both deities had gone a step further, promising that their apostles would be attending today’s gathering as well.

Despite their explanations for this sudden change of heart, Kyle remained uncertain about their true intentions.

In Athena’s case, it was supposedly because he had saved her apostle. As for Apollo, the god had apparently decided that standing on Kyle’s good side was the safer option.

Both explanations sounded reasonable enough on the surface, yet Kyle couldn’t shake the feeling that neither deity had been entirely honest with him. Perhaps they were outright lying, or perhaps they were simply withholding certain details they had no intention of revealing just yet.

Either way, he had no plans to lower his guard.

"I need to keep an eye on their apostles, too."

Kyle muttered the words to himself as he straightened up.

Today’s gathering was far too important to take lightly. He had no idea when, or even whether, he would get another opportunity to bring so many influential beings together in one place. Whatever their individual motives might be, this was his chance to establish connections, gather information, and understand where everyone truly stood.

He couldn’t afford to let that opportunity slip away because he had overlooked something important.

"And for that," his eyes suddenly turned dead cold, "I need to be fully prepared."